SoylentNews is people
SoylentNews
US Secures World Stock of Key Covid-19 Drug Remdesivir
US Secures World Stock of Key Covid-19 Drug Remdesivir:
No other country will be able to buy remdesivir, which can help recovery from Covid-19, for next three months at least
The US has bought up virtually all the stocks for the next three months of one of the two drugs proven to work against Covid-19, leaving none for the UK, Europe or most of the rest of the world.
Experts and campaigners are alarmed both by the US unilateral action on remdesivir and the wider implications, for instance in the event of a vaccine becoming available. The Trump administration has already shown that it is prepared to outbid and outmanoeuvre all other countries to secure the medical supplies it needs for the US.
“They’ve got access to most of the drug supply [of remdesivir], so there’s nothing for Europe,” said Dr Andrew Hill, senior visiting research fellow at Liverpool University.
Remdesivir, the first drug approved by licensing authorities in the US to treat Covid-19, is made by Gilead and has been shown to help people recover faster from the disease. The first 140,000 doses, supplied to drug trials around the world, have been used up. The Trump administration has now bought more than 500,000 doses, which is all of Gilead’s production for July and 90% of August and September.
US to buy 500,000 Remdesivir Coronavirus Treatment Courses at $2,340 Each
US to buy 500,000 remdesivir coronavirus treatment courses at $2,340 each:
The US Department of Health and Human Services has agreed to buy 500,000 remdesivir treatment courses, in the wake of clinical trials revealing the drug can help patients recover more quickly from the coronavirus. A five-day course will cost $2,340,or $3,120 for commercially insured patients, biotech firm Gilead Sciences said.
Early last month, the Food and Drug Administration issued an emergency authorization for remdesivir to be used in cases of COVID-19 when patients were "hospitalized with severe disease," shortly after the drug showed "clear-cut positive effect" in a US trial.
[...] "To the extent possible, we want to ensure that any American patient who needs remdesivir can get it," HHS Secretary Alex Azar said in a release.
[...] Gilead CEO Daniel O'Day addressed the higher price for private insurers, according to health site Stat, by noting that there are "always two prices" for a drug in the US. In an open letter, he acknowledged that the company's work on remdesivir is "far from done."
[...] He also said that countries in the developing world will get the drug at greatly reduced prices, through generic manufacturers.
(Score: 2) by Snotnose on Sunday July 05 2020, @11:31PM (17 children)
DaFuq? Are you really this stupid or are you playing to the /. overflow?
2 completely different meanings of stock. I mean buying part of a company, you are talking about how many widgets are available.
When the dust settled America realized it was saved by a porn star.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by Common Joe on Monday July 06 2020, @10:01AM (10 children)
Sometimes, I used to wonder if he was trolling, but TMB has been pretty consistent about this for years. When it comes to scarce resources and earning potential (not necessarily money itself), he's all about "me, myself, and I". He usually finds a way to remind us common Joes how it's our fault if we can't come up to his "obvious" standards and match his high IQ. Even if it means changing the subject a little bit.
Outside the concept of software, he really can't understand the simple concept of sharing and why working together is actually a good thing in the long run. For someone who does so much for SoylentNews, it stumps me how someone with his intelligence can miss something so obvious.
I've given up trying to understand this side of him. I have to rely on others for help and unfortunately for me, I tend to run into his kind in real life who cannot grasp something on my level. It's this kind of selfishness which got us in the state of the pandemic we're in now. Up until 6 months ago, it could have turned out very differently, but selfish assholes with strong connections in a bunch of countries decided the fate for billions otherwise. Now we're stuck between a limited choice of really bad outcomes.
(Score: 2, Troll) by Azuma Hazuki on Tuesday July 07 2020, @12:22AM (2 children)
He's a sociopath. I've been shouting this from the rooftops for years here and no one's fucking listening. Did I leave my lesbian invisibility cloak on or something?!
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 07 2020, @02:27AM (1 child)
Nah, buzzie is one of the more sane one.
If majority of the trumpets are anything like him, we wouldn't be the in the state we are in.
(Score: 1, Troll) by Azuma Hazuki on Wednesday July 08 2020, @01:10AM
Uzzard isn't sane, he's lazy and weak-willed. This whole "freedom" schtick from him is actually a scared little boy screaming at the world to just leave him alone and let him be, and his entire lifestyle reflects this central need of his. He's also a sociopath, but one of the higher-functioning ones who's had a few shades of shit beaten out of him by Life (TM), so he can be counted on to always act like an asshole but never back it up.
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Tuesday July 07 2020, @01:01PM (4 children)
You're reading what you want instead of what I said. I did not say buying up all the drug was a good thing or a bad thing, I said it was well in line with the obligations of his job and pointed out that the people bitching about it are the same ones who bitch about him thinking he's President of the world every time he takes any active role in global politics. The rest of what you think is there is you getting your "REEEEEEEE!!!" on.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday July 08 2020, @02:56AM (1 child)
You're just annoyed people can see right through you. Time to create a sock puppet and hop on TMB for admin related stuff. Make a new you, no one will possibly be able to tell ;)
(Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Saturday July 11 2020, @03:10PM
See through me? You can't see me at all through all the partisan bullshit you have caked in your eyes.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 2) by Common Joe on Saturday July 11 2020, @03:06AM (1 child)
Communication requires a minimum of two people. If there is a communication problem, it can happen in one or more of the parties involved. Perhaps the problem is not always everyone else?
You'll argue that the second quote of yours (which supports the first quote of yours) is all neutral. I can assure you, most people would not interpret it as neutral. Far from it. It looks very much like you're supporting the president's actions. (If you are completely neutral, why make the second comment at all?) A good test would be to change who we're talking about -- someone else besides the president -- and then apply your statement. I'm sure my argument would still hold.
This time, you're reading what you want instead of what I said or what some of the others said. Your language skills are not as perfect as you claim.
(Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Saturday July 11 2020, @03:21PM
Regarding the stock price and his resulting gains, it is entirely neutral. Which is all I said about that.
No, I wasn't reading into what you said. I was stating an undeniable fact that the folks bitching about him are bitching because he's Trump and he did something; no other reason. That of course assumes they're smart enough to understand that selling your entire stock of something makes you the same profit if you sell it to Bob, Alice, or everyone between them in the phonebook. I prefer to assume folks I'm talking to are not idiots.
To clarify, I am not defending Trump beyond saying that looking out for his nation above all others is his job, and it appears he interpreted that to mean buy up all of this drug. What I am doing is shooting holes in the bullshit arguments of the vast majority of arguments against him. The dude has plenty of legitimate shit coming his way. Stop bitching about bullshit that isn't supported by facts or logic and bitch about the legit stuff and you'll hear no disagreement from me.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 2) by Grishnakh on Tuesday July 07 2020, @06:24PM (1 child)
It's this kind of selfishness which got us in the state of the pandemic we're in now. Up until 6 months ago, it could have turned out very differently, but selfish assholes with strong connections in a bunch of countries decided the fate for billions otherwise. Now we're stuck between a limited choice of really bad outcomes.
The important thing to remember here is that the people in this bunch of countries willingly chose these leaders, so they're getting exactly what they elected. Countries with better people chose better leaders, and got far, far better outcomes.
(Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Saturday July 11 2020, @03:23PM
No, they didn't. Outcomes implies that the situation in question is over. It is not and will not be for quite some time because the world is flatly refusing to allow the species to develop herd immunity.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 2) by kazzie on Monday July 06 2020, @12:26PM
TMB was talking about both types of stock. To paraphrase:
All the product was going to be sold (quickly) to somebody anyway, so there's little difference to the value of your shares.
(Score: 2) by Phoenix666 on Monday July 06 2020, @03:02PM
He used both meanings of "stock" in the same post. It confused you, which indicates it was not the clearest composition, but the usage was not incorrect.
Washington DC delenda est.
(Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Monday July 06 2020, @03:53PM (3 children)
No shit, Sherlock. I used both meanings as well. Here, let me clarify: If the pharmaceutical stockpiles are going to be sold in the exact same quantities regardless, it will make zero difference to the price of his pharmaceutical securities who buys the pharmaceutical stockpiles. All that matters is the profit made, at whose expense it's made is completely irrelevant.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 06 2020, @07:59PM (2 children)
I mean. You're wrong? It says so, directly right in TFA? Gilead charges 1.5x as much for "commercially insured". Prices and profits vary for lots of reasons, too, including exchange rates, varying delivery costs, etc. If they have a fixed amount to sell, and if that were the only thing driving their stock market valuation, then selling to only "commercially insured" orgs would change their stock market price.
So TMB you are completely and utterly incorrect, if TFA/Gilead's presser are not lies.
(Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Tuesday July 07 2020, @01:04PM (1 child)
They do have a fixed amount to sell, dumbass. What Trump bought was everything they could produce over a certain time span. The rest? That's just you pissing and moaning and trying to confuse the issue with irrelevancies and misdirection.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday July 08 2020, @02:59AM
Ah yes, proven wrong so he doubles down. Typical TMB, led by the nose by his own ego. #SAD #LOWENERGY #TRUMPBALLS